Crossword Genius

Victorian English accepting base benefit (9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

privilege

'benefit' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'victorian english accepting base' is the wordplay.
'victorian' becomes 'prig' (both can mean a prudish person).
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation).
'accepting' is an insertion indicator (inserted letters are accepted).
'base' becomes 'vile' (synonyms).
'prig'+'e'='prige'
'prige' placed around 'vile' is 'PRIVILEGE'.

(Other definitions for privilege that I've seen before include "Special advantage" , "Favour not available to all" , "conditional benefit?" , "authorisation" , "Honour" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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